By The Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers have stopped surprising themselves in the NCAA tournament.

Pulling off their third major upset in two years, the 11th-seeded Horizon League champions got 24 points apiece from Joah Tucker and Boo Davis to eliminate No. 6 seed Oklahoma 82-74 in the Minneapolis Regional on Thursday.

Tucker, one of the stars in Milwaukee’s stunning run to the round of 16 last season, scored nine during a 23-7 surge that carried the Panthers (22-8) to a 60-46 lead with just over seven minutes to go.

The closest Oklahoma (20-9) got the rest of the way was six. Terrell Everett led the Sooners with 21 points, but most of his production came after it was too late.

With four starters back – but without coach Bruce Pearl, now at Tennessee – from the team that upset Alabama and Boston College before losing to eventual national finalist Illinois in last year’s tournament, Milwaukee had both the experience and confidence necessary to get the job done again against an Oklahoma team that many felt underachieved in finishing third in the Big 12.

Alabama 90, Marquette 85

SAN DIEGO – Jean Felix and Alabama quickly brought the focus back to basketball.

Felix was nearly perfect in scoring a season-high 31 points for the Crimson Tide, which beat Marquette 90-85 in a thrilling first-round NCAA game that was delayed 70 minutes after bomb-sniffing dogs detected something suspicious at San Diego State’s arena Thursday morning.

Once order was restored, Felix made five 3-pointers in the first 121/2 minutes to help the Crimson Tide take a 15-point lead.

Duke 70, Southern 54

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Shelden Williams and J.J. Redick were as good as advertised. Their teammates? Well, that’s another story altogether.

Duke’s dynamic duo combined for all but 12 of their team’s points to help the top-seeded Blue Devils overcome a sluggish start in a 70-54 victory over Southern University on Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Williams finished with 29 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks, while Redick matched those 29 points and made five 3-pointers. The rest of the team was 2-for-12 from the field, with Josh McRoberts having those two baskets on his way to eight points.

Still, it was enough to help Duke (31-3) advance to play George Washington next in the Atlanta Regional. The Colonials rallied to beat UNC Wilmington 88-85 in overtime.

UCLA 78, Belmont 44

SAN DIEGO – Once the UCLA Bruins started scoring, the Belmont Bruins never stood a chance.

Freshman Luc Richard Mbah a Moute scored a career-high 17 points and UCLA routed the small Nashville school 78-44 Thursday in a first-round NCAA tournament matchup of similarly nicknamed teams.

Ryan Hollins added 10 points for No. 2 seed UCLA (28-6), which won its seventh straight after holding 15th-seeded Belmont to 21 second-half points. Belmont (20-11) had averaged 81.8 points.

LSU 80, Iona 64

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Once “Big Baby” asserted himself, there was no stopping LSU.

Glen Davis scored 17 of his 22 points in the second half and the fourth-seeded Southeastern Conference regular-season champions overcame a sluggish start to beat No. 13 seed Iona 80-64 in the first round of the Atlanta Regional on Thursday night.

Davis, a 6-foot-9, 310-pound sophomore nicknamed “Big Baby,” took over after missing eight of his first nine shots and being held to five points in the opening half. The SEC player of the year finished 7-of-15 from the field and had 13 rebounds – six of them after halftime.

Steve Burtt and Ricky Soliver, the highest-scoring guard tandem in Division I, did all they could to keep Iona (23-8) in the game. Burtt had 23 points and Soliver 14 in their final college contests, but were a combined 2-for-14 on 3-point attempts.

Montana 87, Nevada 79

SALT LAKE CITY – The little team from the Big Sky carried on the winning tradition of No. 12 seeds in the NCAA tournament.

Montana overcame a sizable height disadvantage and became the latest No. 12 seed to pull an upset, beating fifth-seeded Nevada 87-79 Thursday in the first round of the Minneapolis Regional.

Since 1985, at least one 12th-seeded team has upset a No. 5 seed in the tournament every year except for 1988 and 2000.

George Washington 88, UNC Wilmington 85

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The last wild momentum swing in a game full of them went George Washington’s way.

Maureece Rice scored 20 points and had a key defensive play in overtime to help the Colonials rally from an 18-point deficit and beat UNC Wilmington 88-85 Thursday night in the first round of the Atlanta Regional.

Omar Williams had 16 points and nine rebounds for the eighth-seeded Colonials (27-2), who advanced to face the Duke-Southern University winner in Saturday’s second round. Carl Elliott added 15 points and hit two free throws with 11.6 seconds left to send the game into overtime, while Danilo Pinnock had all 11 of his points after halftime.

Wichita State 86, Seton Hall 66

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Sean Ogirri threw down a slam, then ran by the Wichita State fans with his arms extended as if to announce, “Here I am.”

He might as well have been talking for the Missouri Valley Conference.

Ogirri had 23 points and hit six 3-pointers to lead Wichita State past Seton Hall from the vaunted Big East 86-66 Thursday in the first round of the Washington Regional, giving the mid-major conference an impressive debut after hearing plenty of criticism about its haul of four NCAA tournament bids.

“We’re really proud of what we’ve done, and we weren’t going to let a bunch of people around the country who haven’t seen us make us feel any different,” Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon said of the conference. “We know what we have and it’s pretty special.”

Florida 76, South Alabama 50

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida’s latest attempt to survive the first weekend of the NCAA tournament got off to a shaky start Thursday.

Then Lee Humphrey got going, and the rest was easy.

Humphrey scored 20 points, including 12 on four 3-pointers in the second half, and the third-seeded Gators beat 14th-seeded South Alabama 76-50 in front of a partisan crowd at Veterans Memorial Arena.

Tennessee 63, Winthrop 61

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Chris Lofton’s remarkable shot allowed Tennessee to avoid a major upset and sent the Volunteers into the NCAA tournament’s second round for the first time in six years.

The sophomore guard took an inbound pass with 2.9 seconds left and rattled home a fallaway jumper from just inside the 3-point line to help the second-seeded Volunteers beat Winthrop 63-61 Thursday in the first round of the Washington Regional.

Craig Bradshaw missed a shot right before the buzzer that would have tied it for the Eagles (23-8), who remained winless in six trips to the tournament. They were trying to become the fifth 15th seed to record an upset in the first round, and the first since 2001. Instead the Volunteers advance to face seventh-seeded Wichita State.

Gonzaga 79, Xavier 75

SALT LAKE CITY – Adam Morrison did just enough to keep Gonzaga from a first-round exit in the NCAA tournament.

The Bulldogs’ mustachioed, mop-topped star scored seven of his 35 points in the final two minutes as Gonzaga rallied past Xavier 79-75 Thursday in the Oakland Regional.

Morrison led the Zags on a late 10-2 run, finally overcoming Xavier. The Musketeers had held off every previous Gonzaga surge, but ultimately they were overrun by the nation’s leading scorer.

Illinois 78, Air Force 69

SAN DIEGO – The critics were probably half right. At times it looked like Air Force belonged in the NCAA tournament. Other times, the Falcons played like a dubious pick.

Illinois was just too big and too talented, and finally overpowered the Falcons, winning 78-69 in a first-round game on Thursday night.

Guard Jamar Smith had six 3-pointers among his 20 points for the fourth-seeded Fighting Illini (26-6), who were playing in their first NCAA tournament game since losing last year’s championship to North Carolina.

Texas A&M 66, Syracuse 58

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Maybe the Big East was overrated.

It would be hard to argue that after the opening day of the NCAA tournament.

Acie Law scored 23 points, including a dozen in the final 2:25, and helped 12th-seeded Texas A&M upset fifth-seeded Syracuse 66-58 Thursday night in the Atlanta Regional.

It was the third loss in as many games for the powerhouse Big East Conference. Wichita State pounded Seton Hall 86-66 in Greensboro, N.C., and Marquette was knocked off by Alabama, 90-85 in San Diego.

It also ended an improbably run for the Orange and senior Gerry McNamara. The star guard carried Syracuse through the Big East tournament last weekend and helped the team secure an automatic berth in the NCAA field.

Before the conference tournament, the Orange seemed destined to be left out of the NCAAs.

But the Aggies (22-8) had better fortune in this one – thanks to Law.

The left-hander scored 14 points in the final eight minutes, almost single-handily delivering Texas A&M into the second round. He finished 7-of-17 from the field and had seven rebounds and five assists.

In the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1987, the Aggies advanced to face fourth-seeded LSU on Saturday in Jacksonville. The Tigers beat Iona earlier Thursday.

McNamara was held to two points – tying his career low – and the Texas A&M section was chanting “overrated, overrated” at him on several occasions.

He was 0-for-6 from the field and missed all five shot from behind the 3-point line.

McNamara received significant attention leading up to the Big East tournament after he was called the conference’s “most overrated” player by unidentified Big East assistants in a Syracuse area newspaper, and also was called overrated by a columnist from the school newspaper.

McNamara was scoreless most of first half, until he sank two free throws with 36 seconds remaining. But he didn’t score again.

Terrence Roberts led the Orange (21-12) with 16 points.

McNamara was much better in the Big East tournament.

Against Cincinnati in the opening round, he hit a running 3-pointer in the final second to lift the Orange to a 74-73 victory. He made another clutch 3 the next night with 5 seconds left to tie top-ranked Connecticut in a game the Orange won in overtime. He made a 3-pointer the following night against Georgetown that got Syracuse within one, assisted on the go-ahead basket and caused a turnover that sealed the win.

McNamara finished with 14 points and six assists in the Orange’s 65-61 win over Pittsburgh in the championship game. He also had three 3-pointers against the Panthers, giving him a Big East tournament-record 16.

AP-ES-03-17-06 0021EST